


Counting Stars

by LambentWarg



Category: A Way Out (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Stargazing, and some cuddling on the hood of the car, but not before Leo Leo’s them into the situation of course, can be read as simply platonic or hinting at vinceo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28451415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LambentWarg/pseuds/LambentWarg
Summary: ”That doesn’t even make sense, Leo.”Leo waved Vincent off as he turned off the headlights and got out of the car. “Yeah? Well how ‘bout this then: Fuck you, I’ve got the keys. See if you can find them in all the pockets I’ve got.”-In which Leo demonstrates his ability to annoy Vincent into submission and into taking a break.
Relationships: Leo Caruso & Vincent Moretti, Leo Caruso/Vincent Moretti
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23
Collections: A Way Out Fictober 2020





	Counting Stars

“Does it still hurt?”

Vincent’s deflection of ‘Does what hurt?’ died on his tongue the moment he glanced over and saw the genuine concern on Leo’s face. He sighed and offered a resigned acceptance of the injury instead. There wasn’t much else he could do about it.

“It’s fine.”

A lie though certainly not one of his worst. And an easy bluff to call with how much more ginger his handling of the steering wheel had become the longer they drove. Leo didn’t need any of all the tells he had picked up on to know Vincent was full of shit. One could only do so much to mask the discomfort of tweaked muscles without the help of painkillers. 

“Riiight and the moon’s made of cheese.”

Vincent wasn’t surprised Leo refused to buy into his response, but he still side-eyed him nonetheless.

“Pull over, man,” Leo continued. “It’s my turn to drive. You should give your shoulder a break so it doesn’t get as stiff as you are.”

Vincent scowled and clapped back with a dry retort. Relinquishing the driver’s seat and in turn taking his mind off the road and freeing it up to his thoughts wasn’t something he wanted either. His stubbornness on the matter, however, was tempered by exhaustion and failed to be as steadfast as Leo’s well-intended harassment to get him to comply. The car pulled onto the side of the deserted highway soon after another round of pestering.

Leo grinned as they passed each other in front of the car’s trunk. “Still can’t believe you jumped out a fucking window.” He reached out to clap Vincent’s good shoulder and continued the movement to further shove him in the direction of the passenger side.

“Crazy bastard,” Leo playfully scolded. “You’re lucky you don’t look like a glass porcupine.”  
  


* * *

Vincent peeled his face away from leaning heavily against the car door window some time later and sat up with a barely audible huff. He stared unfocused out of the windshield, unsure of how long he’d been out and only really registering the glow of the headlights. Sleep had been about to retake him when another bump in the road jostled more wakefulness into him. It took Vincent a long inhale through his nose and a stretch that made him wince before it belatedly dawned on him what had woken him up.

Leo had traded the smoothness of paved highway for the bumpy ride of turning onto some old dirt service road that dead ended in a clearing the desert scrub had started to retake. He looked over at Vincent with an apologetic frown.

“Sorry. I tried to avoid the dips in the road.”

“What road?” Vincent rumbled, somehow already channeling incredulous energy. “What’re you doing? We’ve still got-“

Leo rolled his eyes though counted himself lucky that at least Vincent didn’t also seem bothered about the detour waking him.

“What we’ve _got_ is needing a break. Saw this trail and thought ‘why not.’” Leo shifted the car into park and cut the engine. “We should chill out for a bit. Get some air and some sleep. _You_ could sure use another nap.”

Vincent groggily started in on how they shouldn't stop, that they couldn’t afford to pause and he had several other points to air before the unimpressed look Leo gave him caused his protest to trail off.

“You done? We’re taking a break.”

“Leo, it’s not a good idea-“

“No, Vincent,” Leo interrupted. The firm tone made Vincent feel like he was a kid who had lost his plea for more dessert. “I’m beat. You’re beat. You nodded off soon as you weren’t driving. We’re gonna end up wrecking this junker into a ditch if we don’t take a breather. You think you can kick Harvey’s ass from the bottom of a ditch?”

Leo took Vincent’s expression as confirmation he didn’t have a valid counter and thus continued.

“You know I’m right.”

Vincent gave a grunt of begrudging agreement. 

“Then how about you trust me for once.”

“I trust you.” There was no hesitance in the affirmation like there was in Vincent’s follow up. Those words had suddenly dropped a profound lament into his thoughts. He shouldn’t trust Leo. He shouldn’t trust him with every fiber of his being like he does. And he shouldn’t be trusted in return like he woefully knows Leo does.

“It’s just that-“ Vincent frowned at the pang of guilt and barely had the frame of mind to rub at his shoulder as if it had caused his grimace. _“..._ I just think we should keep moving.”

“Lighten up, Vince. We lost those cops back in the city. Dumbasses probably think we’re still there somewhere. You really need to learn to take breaks once in a while. Stressin’ out over that stick up your ass is aging you.”

Vincent pulled a grumpy expression.

Leo pointed at Vincent. “And I’m surprised your face hasn’t stuck like that with how much you do it.” His hand dropped to pat and then shove at Vincent’s thigh in encouragement to get out of the car. “Get outta the damn car and stretch your legs at least.”

Vincent stayed where he was. “Incorrigible.”

“Big word for someone scared of some downtime.”

“That doesn’t even make sense, Leo.”

Leo waved Vincent off as he turned off the headlights and got out of the car. “Yeah? Well how ‘bout this then: Fuck you, I’ve got the keys. See if you can find them in all the pockets I’ve got.”

Vincent rolled his eyes at the tease and debated leaving the car as Leo stood outside and stretched muscles sore from the innumerable things they had been through. The surrounding view was a nightscape of dirt, rocks, and tufts of desert scrub, but for once Leo didn’t mind the lack of civilization. The nothingness of the landscape and the dazzle of the stars above was a sort of privacy he had no complaints about. Couldn’t even complain about it being dark with how bright the moonlight was.

When Vincent finally emerged from the car, Leo greeted him with a theatrically loud inhale and an exaggerated yet satisfied sounding sigh. He walked over with his arms spread wide as if to take in all the open air around them.

“Ain’t it great, Vince? Free and on our way to fix the shit we were dealt.” Leo looked up at that. “And not a cloud in the sky either.”

* * *

  
  
“C’mon, use your imagination. You really don’t see it?”

“No.”

Leo turned his head to see Vincent’s eyes were closed as he lay reclined against the windshield and he elbowed him in the ribs for the offense. The sound the impact startled out of Vincent was a cross between a curse and a barely contained yelp.

“You fucker,” Leo whined. “You’re not even looking.”

Vincent rubbed at his side and briefly squabbled with Leo over the reprimand. Leo returned to his impromptu lesson on identifying constellations once it was clear Vincent’s eyes were actually back on the sky.

“See, right over there’s Orion.” Metal creaked slightly as Leo shifted closer to put his pointing arm more in Vincent’s line of sight. “Look for the three stars sitting close together in a line. They’re like the guy’s belt. How about now? You see it?”

“No.”

But it wasn’t for lack of imagination. It was a lack of focus on the present. Vincent’s mind was on what the future entailed for them and what he could do about it. Could he do anything about it? If he could, he hadn’t found answers stretched out on the hood of a hot wired car stargazing alongside a fugitive.

“You need glasses.”

The accusation pulled Vincent back down to earth and furrowed his brow.

“No, I damn well don’t.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Leo answered with a shrug.

“Shut up, Leo.”

A particular grumble in Vincent’s voice made Leo smile. It meant the guy had been successfully hooked back into the banter. “Make me.”

Vincent sighed both because he knew it futile to silence Leo and because he simply didn’t want to. He would rather Leo prattled on about anything than be left to his thoughts. But he couldn’t- wouldn’t? No, _didn’t_ know how to admit that.

“And if I don’t?”

“Well then, buddy, I’m just gonna keep talking.”

Leo had punctuated his declaration by stretching his arm to dramatically drape it across Vincent’s shoulders. And he had meant to be obnoxious with his tone and gesture, but, when Vincent didn’t shove him off in annoyance, Leo decided to leave his arm right where it was.

“Don’t you just need my ears for that?”

“How the hell else are you gonna see what I’m talking about if you’re not looking?”

“That didn’t stop you before.”

“Yeah because I _thought_ you were paying attention.”

“I _was_ paying attention,” Vincent assured and was fully sincere about it. He quieted long enough though that Leo figured that was all he had to say. “I’m listening. Just a lot on my mind.”

Leo watched Vincent with a soft look. No matter how much they happened to wind each other up, it always leveled back out to a comfortable neutral. He reached his free hand back to rest his head on it as a cushion against the cold glass and went back to admiring the sky. No matter what, the stars were reliable. It was a comfort. Just like his partner-in-crime’s presence had become.

“I get it, Vince. A lot’s happened.”

“Yeah.”

Too much had happened. On top of it all, Vincent hadn’t planned to make a friend while he sought revenge. A friend he desperately wanted to keep. Would it be wrong to indulge in the closeness Leo always offered? He hoped it wasn’t as he made no move to extract himself from the half hug Leo held him in.

They chatted about nothing important as the moon drifted and Vincent’s ability to stay awake waned. His last contribution to the conversation was a lazy prompt for more information on the cosmos that Leo happily took up. His return to his role of expletive-ridden star guide was short lived though and Vincent’s head soon sagged heavily against his shoulder.

Leo’s description of Pegasus trailed off once he noticed, but this time he didn’t feel offended at the loss of attention. Acting as a pillow stand-in suited him just fine.

“Night, Vince.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wanting to get the last of the unclaimed AWO fictober prompts into something helped me pull together some unused scene ideas that’ve been collecting dust in my docs so that was a nice bonus.
> 
> Prompt lines:  
> 4: “That didn't stop you before”  
> 18: “You don't see it?”  
> 26: “How about you trust me for once?"  
> 31: “I trust you.”
> 
> Many kudos to redex_writes for inspiring the creation of everyone’s prompt fills!


End file.
